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The protests in Bangladesh have escalated as students set fire to the country’s official broadcaster on Thursday.
The protests started over the allocation of civil service jobs and has killed over 30 people, prompting a “near total” internet shutdown. On Friday, the protesters continued to clash with police and pro-government activists.
Police fired rubber bullets to hundreds of protesters, who fought back and pursued fleeing officer to the headquarters of Bangladesh Television (BTV) in the capital of Dhaka. Protestors set fire to the network’s reception facility and dozens of cars parked outside.
According to the broadcaster’s Facebook post, “many people” were trapped inside, but a station executive later told AFP that everyone safely evacuated the building. Meanwhile, a senior BTV journalist, who wants to remain anonymous told BBC, “The situation was so bad we didn’t have any other option but to leave the place. Some of our colleagues were trapped inside. I don’t know what happened to them.”
Also, there was widespread internet outages that affected websites for the Bangladesh home and foreign ministry, as well as the Dhaka Tribune and Daily Star newspapers.
Students have been holding protests in demands of a change in the system which reserves a third of public sector jobs for the relatives of veterans of the country’s war for independence from Pakistan in 1971, reports BBC.
The Premier, on Wednesday, appeared on BTV to condemn the murder of protesters and vowing to punish those responsible, irrespective of political affiliation. However, her plea for calm did not assuage the protests and violence escalated on the streets.
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